Bo Ryan Zips For Fun In Tourism's Next Promotional Ad

"....I'm watching Bo Ryan from my hotel room right now in Wisconsin Dells zip line. So coach Bo Ryan from UW-Madison men's basketball team the final four.... is starring in our next commercial spot...."Stephanie Klett says Ryan was happy to accept the offer to be in the next tourism ads.

The Department of Tourism has dropped it's long-standing tradition of having a slogan...such as Escape To Wisconsin...in favor of Wisconsin-born or adopted celebrities promoting how much fun Wisconsin can be.

Last fall, the Packers Jordy Nelson, and this summer former Milwaukee Buck and NBA superstar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar starred in the spots. Klett says she was at a tourism conference during the college basketball playoffs last spring and the people there liked Bo Ryan...

"....he had been on our radar for a long time. But at this sports conference everyone was coming up to me saying, 'that's our coach. He's a class act. We want Wisconsin to win'. It was from California to New York...."

Klett says the ads will launch next year.....

"....83 percent of our visitors come from eight Midwestern states and that's really where our marketing dollars are. But we're targeting everybody. Our demographic is a little bit of everything. It's a lot of multi-generational...families coming...grandma and grandpa and grandsons..."

Klett says they are working the ads around a "Camp Wisconsin" theme, with an emphasis on fun.